Week 5 bwin MVP: Andrei Kirilenko, CSKA Moscow

With a brilliant team-oriented performance that set a new standard for efficiency, CSKA Moscow forward Andrei Kirilenko made sure to keep his team undefeated while garnering Week 5 bwin MVP honors. Though Kirilenko, who was also the opening week MVP as well as the winner of the October MVP title, only recorded 3 shot attempts during his 35 minutes on the floor of CSKA’s 77-66 victory, he managed to score, rebound and play defense to the fullest. Kirilenko finished the night with 17 points on near perfect shooting – 1 of 2 two-pointers, 1 for 1 from behind the arc and 12 of 13 on free throws – plus 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocked shots and 7 fouls drawn to amass the highest performance index rating in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague yet this season: 39. Kirilenko now leads the league in performance index rating with an average of 29.4 per game. He is also the league-leader in both rebounding (9 rpg.) and blocked shots (3.2 bpg.) and ranked third in steals (2.2 spg.). Zalgiris Kaunas big man dominated for his team on Wednesday with not only the second best index rating of the week, but of the Euroleague season to date. Unfortunately for Jankunas, his performance was not enough to lift Zalgiris, which fell 80-78 at KK Zagreb. Nevertheless, Jankunas’s career-best line showed 24 points on 6-of-8 two-point and 12-of-16 free-throw shooting, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 9 fouls drawn for an index rating of 38. Terrell Lyday came off the bench for 22 points, 7 assists and the third-highest performance index rating of the week, 30, in leading Unics Kazan to an 81-51 rout of Union Olimpija. Rounding out the list of Week 5’s best are Asseco Prokom forward Donatas Motiejunas, Gescrap BB shooter Kostas Vasiliadis and Caja Laboral star Mirza Teletovic. Motiejunas, the reigning Eurocup Rising Star award winner, tallied 26 points and 9 rebounds for a 29 index, though it wasn’t enough in the end as Prokom fell 84-73 at Montepaschi Siena. Vasiliadis sniped 21 points without missing any of his 3 three-pointers or 6 free throws in compiling a 27 index in his team’s 84-89 victory at rival Caja Laboral. Teletovic also had an index rating of 27 after posting 26 points and 8 rebounds in that game.

Individual highs: Sergio Rodriguez, 10 assists

Motiejunas, Teletovic and Olympiacos guard Vassilis Spanoulis share the distinction as the Week 5 top scorer with 26 points apiece. Teletovic remains the Turkish Airlines Euroleague’s leading scorer for the season with 23 points per game, while Spanoulis is tied for second with 19.8 per game. Jankunas is joined by Zagreb big man Josh Heytvelt and Milan Macvan of Partizan mt:s as the best rebounders of the week, each with 11 boards. Macvan is now second in the Euroleague in rebounding to Kirilenko with 8.4 boards per game. Real Madrid playmaker Sergio Rodriguez racked up 10 assists in his team’s 104-84 rout of Anadolu Efes to lead all Week 5 participants. Rodriguez is now tied for second place in the league with 5.6 assists per game behind only FC Barcelona Regal point guard Marcelinho Huertas (6.8 apg.). Kirilenko’s 6 steals were the most of any player in Week 5. Caja Laboral’s Pablo Prigioni’s 3 steals per game remains the most in the Euroleague. No player rejected more shots in Week 5 than Shawn James of Maccabi Electra, who celebrated his first career start by swatting 4 shots. And three players collected double-doubles in Week 5: Jankunas, Macvan (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Heytvelt (17 points, 11 rebounds).